Stanley Smith

Cyathophyllum Cæspitosum Goldfuss, and other Devonian Corals considered in a Revision of that Species

I. Introduction Few names appear more frequently in the literature of Devonian palaeontology than “Cyathophyllum cæspitosum Goldfuss”; yet the descriptions of that species are most unsatisfactory, partly because a lectotype had not been chosen until lately (Lang and Smith, 1934, p. 80), and partly because the internal characters of the type specimens have not yet been made known. Occurring in a faunal list, the name usually connotes no more than a phaceloid coral. Goldfuss described the coral in 1826, on page 60 of his classical work “Petrefacta Germanise”, and illustrated it by figures of four syntypes, from the Eifel and Bensberg, in pl. xix, figs. 2 a–d. He also described and figured, in the same work, Lithodendron coespitosum (p. 44, pl. xiii, fig. 4), which has been considered by many authors a synonym of Cyathophyllum cæspitosum; and Cyathophyllum hexagonum (p. 61, pi. xix, figs. 5 a–f; pl. xx, figs. 1 a, b), of which the examples illustrated on pl. xix, figs. 5 a–d, have also been cited as conspecific with C. cæspitosum. Through the courtesy of Professor Tilmann, who has very kindly lent us the types (preserved in Bonn University), we have been able to investigate the structures of these species, and to choose a lectotype of Cyathophyllum cæspitosum: namely, the specimen figured in Goldfuss, 1826, p. 60, pl. xix, fig. 2 b. Since Cyathophyllum cæspitosum and Lithodendron cæspitosum cannot be included in either Cyathophyllum or Lithodendron, we have investigated the genotypes of the various genera to which those two

A Critical Revision of the Rugose Corals described by W. Lonsdale in Murchison's ‘Silurian System’

W. Lonsdale, in R. I. Murchisons ‘Silurian System’, 1839, pp. 675–94, pis. xv, xv bis, xvi, & xvi bis, described and figured a number of Silurian corals and polyzoa. In view of the prominence of this work in the literature of Palæozoic corals and polyzoa, and the importance to nomenclature of a right interpretation of many of Lonsdales figured forms, it is desirable that whenever possible the types and figured specimens should be re-examined and their internal structure carefully investigated. It should be noted that our paper deals solely with the Rugose corals. The genotypes of several genera are involved, as well as the types of a number of species. Many of Lonsdales forms have been misinterpreted by later authors, and placed by them in the synonymies of totally different coral-species. Our paper has issued as a by-product of a work of wider scope begun in 1923—namely, an investigation of all the genera to which Palæozoic corals have been referred, with a view to determining their genotypes; it is also auxiliary to our impending publication dealing with the Silurian corals described in Linnæuss ‘Corallia Baltica’ and with the genera and species involved in a consideration of these. It aims at identifying unmistakably Lonsdales Rugose coral-species, describing in detail those which do not come within the scope of our other work, and only very briefly considering such as will be fully described in that work. It has, however, been found desirable to consider also several of McCoys types, as well as

A Revision of the Coral Genus Aulina Smith and Descriptions of New Species from Britain and China1 Read 24 June, 1942 [Plates VIII-X]

Summary The monotypic Carboniferous coral genus Aulina was founded by one of the present authors (S. S.) in 1916 (Abs. Proc. G.S. No. 995) upon A. roliformis Smith, at that time known only from two localities, one in Northumberland and the other in Yorkshire. Since then the species has been recorded from Scotland and has been proved to be widely distributed in China. Other species have been added to the genus and several new forms are described in this paper. Here the genus is restricted to forms of these corals. The first, the plocoid group, evolved from the cerioid Lithostrotion maccoyanum, embraces Aulina rotiformis and species which closely parallel stages in its ontogeny. The second group includes phaceloid forms which have been developed more directly from diphymorphs of Lithostrotion through the production of the aulos from a column of superimposed convex axial tabulae. To this extent the genus is polyphyletic. The paper contains brief sections dealing with other derivatives of Lithostrotion and with aulate corals in general. I. Introduction This paper is a sequel to the one published in volume lxxii of the Quarterly Journal (Smith 1917) in which the Carboniferous genus Aulina and its genotype A. rotiformis were first fully described upon material from a very circumscribed area in the North of England. Aulina rotiformis has subsequently been recorded from Scotland (Hill 1937, p. 25) and has proved to be widely distributed in China (Yü 1933 [1934], p. 80, and present work). Since Aulina was founded in 1916 (Smith

The Genus Lonsdaleia and Dibunophyllum Rugosum (McCoy)

I. Introduction. Lonsdaleia is a genus of the Rugose Corals of colonial habit belonging to the Clisiophyllidæ; Dibunophyllum rugosum is also a colonial coral and a member of the same family; but the other species of the genus Dibunophyllum are, with very rare exceptions, simple corals. My reasons for including a description of Dibunophyllum rugosum in a communication primarily dealing with Lonsdaleia are—the fact that the former was originally described by McCoy as Lonsdaleia rugosa, and that considerable confusion has arisen between it and the fasciculate forms of Lonsdaleia. An acknowledgment of thanks is due, in the first place, to those gentlemen who have generously assisted me with the material of research. To Dr. A. Smith Woodward, Dr. F. L. Kitchin, Prof. T. McK. Hughes, and Mr. Leonard Gill, I am indebted for the use of specimens preserved in the British Museum (Natural History), the Museum of Practical Geology, the Sedgwick Museum (Cambridge), and the Hancock Museum (Newcastle-upon-Tyne). I am under special obligation to Dr. Smith Woodward and Prof. Hughes for access to the holotypes of species named by Phillips, Lonsdale, and McCoy. For placing at my disposal the results of their own collecting, I thank Mr. John Bishop, Mr. R. G. Carruthers, Mr. C. H. Cunnington, Mr. J. A. Douglas, Prof. E. J. Garwood, Prof. O. T. Jones, Mr. T. Herdman, Dr. Wheelton Hind, Prof. S. H. Reynolds, Prof. T. F. Sibly, Mr. C. T. Trechmann, Dr. A. Vaughan, Dr. A. Wilmore, and Dr. D. Woolacott. I have myself

Aulina rotiformis, gen. et sp. nov., Phillipsastræa hennahi (Lonsdale), and Orionastræa, gen. nov.

I. Introduction Phillipsastræa is a genus of Devonian Corals possessing certain well-marked characters. The genus Orionastræa has been established to include certain Carboniferous species very closely related to Lithostrotion, but which have been regarded by many writers as congeneric with those of Phillipsastræa. O. phillipsi (McCoy) is commonly known as Ph. radiata (Martin). Aulina is a new genus, found at the horizon of the Millstone Grit. One species only has been recognized: this has been confused hitherto with O. phillipsi, and hence recorded as Ph. radiata. I regard Phillipsastræa as the ancestor of Aulina, but do not consider that these are related to Orionastræa. All three genera, however, are colonial in habit, and possess a similar type of corallum: namely, that in which the individual corallites have lost their epitheca, and consequently are united by their dissepiments—a type of colony which may be termed ‘astræiform.’ The foregoing statements explain my reasons for including the history of the name Phillipsastræa and the description of its genotype in a communication primarily concerned with Carboniferous genera. I am deeply indebted to the late Prof. T. McKenny Hughes, to Dr. A. Smith Woodward, Dr. F. L. Kitchin, Dr. W. G. Lee, and Mr. Peter MacNair for the loan of material (including various type-specimens) preserved in the Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge, the British Museum (Natural History), the Museum of Practical Geology, the collection of the Geological Survey of Scotland, and the Glasgow Museum & Art Gallery; and to Mr. Charles Edmonds, Prof. E. J. Garwood, and

On the Genus Aulophyllum

Aulophyllum occurs in the higher horizons (the Dibunophyllum Zone) of the Lower Carboniferous of Great Britain, and is particularly abundant in Scotland and the North of England. Mr. J. A. Douglas has recorded ‘Cyclophyllum sp.’ from the Carboniferous Limestone (D) of County Clare (Ireland), and Dr. A. Vaughan ‘Cyclophylla’ from the equivalent horizon at Visé (Belgium); while Kunth reported its occurrence at Hausdorf, near Glatz, on the south-western border of Silesia. Mr. R. G. Carruthers has described a specimen from Novaya Zemlya, which proved its existence at as high a latitude as 70° 49′ N. Dr. G. H. Girty, on the other hand, believes that the genus has not been recorded from the United States. The corals studied were partly collected by myself, but for a large portion of the material I am indebted to the generosity of Mr. John Bishop, Mr. R. G. Carruthers, Mr. John Dunn, Prof. E. J. Garwood, Dr. W. T. Gordon, Mr. Leonard Gill, Mr. Thomas Herdman, Dr. Wheelton Hind, Mr. W. B. R. King, Dr. F. L. Kitchin, Mr. A. F. Sandys, Dr. T. F. Sibly, Mr. C. T. Trechmann, Dr. Arthur Vaughan, Mr. F. H. Walker, Mr. Geoffrey Weyman, and Dr. Albert Wilmore. The preparation of material, its examination, and the literary research have been carried out at the Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge; and I take this opportunity of expressing my thanks to Prof. T. McKenny Hughes, F.R.S., for these privileges and for the kindly interest that he has shown in my work. My

On the Occurrence of Tremadoc Shales in the Tortworth Inlier (Gloucestershire)

I. Introduction The presence in South Gloucestershire of rocks older than the Old Red Sandstone was made known more than a century ago by the researches of W. Buckland and W. D. Conybeare (1824, p. 216) and T. Weaver (1824). Murchison included them in his Silurian system (1839, pp. 447–9, 454–62, and map separately issued), utilizing, in addition to his own observations, notes and sketches made by the Rev. George Cooke, Rector of Tortworth at that time. The area was mapped by D. Williams, J. Phillips, A. C. Ramsay, and H. W. Bristow of the Geological Survey during the directorship of De la Beche, and the information was published in 1845 (Geological Survey 1-inch Map, Sheet 35). Bristow revised this part of the sheet in 1865, and further information was added to the map in 1866. John Phillips (1848, pp. 190–8 & pl. i) gives a good account of the Palæozoic inlier, and H. B. Woodward includes a shorter and less accurate description of the beds in his memoir on the Bristol coalfield (1876, pp. 9–11 & pl. i). Within recent years, S. H. Reynolds, partly in collaboration with C. Lloyd Morgan and F. R. C. Reed, has written a series of papers dealing with the geology, petrology, and palæontology of the southern part of the outcrop, and has summarized the results in his ‘Geological Excursion Handbook for the Bristol District’ (1912 & 1921, pp. 200–9). Nothing, however, has been published about the northern part (that is, the country north

On some Rugose Corals from the Burindi Series (Lower Carboniferous) of New South Wales; together with a Short Account of the Upper Palæozoic Rocks of the Area in which they were collected

Homœmorphy, regarding both external form and internal structures, is exceedingly common among Rugose Corals. Analogous features may occur in unrelated genera living contemporaneously in the same region or may be found reappearing in corals of different stocks in widely separated regions and epochs. This paper describes two gener—AmygdaloptzyllumDun & Benson, and Cionodendron, gen. nov., from the Burindi Series (Lower Carboniferous) of New South Wales; it also includes a few remarks concerning the species of Lithostrotioncollected from the same series (and from the equivalent horizon in Queensland). Amygdalophyllum and Cionodendron are related respectively to the Carboniferous species of ‘Cyathophyllum’ (Palæosmilia) Edwards & Haime, and Lithostrotion ; but both corals are characterized by an unusually large columella, as in Cyathaxonia. Amygdalophyllum and Cionodendron illustrate a remarkable case of parallelism. The Australian species ofLithostrotion show certain small peculiarities of structure which distinguish them as a group from their British congeners. The described material, much of which has been collected by one of us (W. N. B.), is the property of the Geological Surveys of New South Wales and Queensland, and of the Australian Museum (Sydney), and our thanks to these Institutions for the loan of the small collection is cordially tendered. Before the corals are discussed, a short account is given of the stratigraphical succession of the region in which they were found, ‘and our reasons are stated for correlating the Burindi Series with the Viséan of Europe. The fossils herein described come from the parishes of Moorowarra and Babbinboon, near Somerton, 20

The Geology of the Saltern Cove Area, Torbay

The small complex of Lower, Middle, and Upper Devonian rocks which occupies a mile by half a mile, immediately south of Paignton, lies between Goodrington and Broadsands. The sequence and structure are well seen in the cliffs and the railway-cutting, but farther inland there is a lack of good exposures. The topography of the area is influenced by the geology in a marked manner. The Massive Limestone forms the high ground on the south and south-east, ending in a steep escarpment. The igneous intrusion with the overthrust limestone forms a remarkably steep-sided, conical hill—the Sugar Loaf. The deep valley between the two hills has been cut in the soft shales and associated tuffs of Upper Devonian age. The locality is of special interest, since it was here that the Upper Devonian was first recognized in South Devon by Mr. J. E. Lee in 1877 (7). Since Lees paper, nothing worthy of mention has been published concerning the beds, except that included in the map and memoir of the district by W. A. E. Ussher (16). Concerning the literature of the area prior to Lees paper, there is little to mention. De La Beche in 1835 (2) mentions Saltern Cove, and records the occurrence there of altered limestone, shale, and trap. Etheridge in 1867 (4) suggested the probability of the presence of Upper Devonian near Newton Bushel. Holl in 1868 (5), if we may judge from his map, places the shales and the volcanic rocks in his Lower South Devon Group

The Carboniferous Inliers at Codrington and Wick, Gloucestershire

On the eastern side of the Bristol coal-basin, south of Chipping Sodbuiy, the Lower Carboniferous rocks are concealed by Mesozoic strata. Near Codrington and in the vicinity of Wick, however, they are exposed as a number of small inliers. These inliers are the subject of the present paper. The Codrington Inliers are situated 2 miles, the Wick Bocks Inlier 5 miles, and the Grandmothers Rock Inlier, 6½ miles south of the continuous outcrop (see fig. 1, p. 332). The last-mentioned inlier is 14 miles north of the Mendip outcrop. The village of Wick is 7 miles east of Bristol, and the Wick Rocks Inlier, which lies on the north side of the village, occurs on the same line of latitude as the Avon Gorge, some 9 miles away to the west. The several inliers expose, although not quite completely, a succession of beds ranging from the Tournaisian (Upper Zaphrentis Zone) to Coal Measures yielding a Yorkian flora. The upper part of the Syringothyris and the base of the Seminula Zones are not exposed, and within the ‘Millstone Grit’ a non-sequence undoubtedly occurs. The arenaceous beds with thin intercalated limestones (D3) which succeed the limestone sequence (see table, p. 333) are better exposed in the Wick Rocks Inlier than anywhere else in the Bristol District. Although these beds are well developed on the north-west side of Bristol—at Clifton and Redland, they are no longer accessible there. Generally speaking, the strata exposed in these inliers have a westward dip, but the actual